Riverbrian

I can't accept the premise. 1)... This is 2012... and I really don't even want to think this way. 2)... Why draft a minority in the 1st place or trade for them or anything if they fear upsetting the fan base. 3)... Nathan at the time was perhaps the top closer outside of Mariano Rivera in Baseball. I love Hunter but he wasn't the top OF in Baseball at the time. 4)... Timing was everything with Mauer and Morneau. MVP's and a new stadium right around the corner. Hunter left pre-Target field Move. 5)... I really don't want to think this way. I'd be horrified if there was a kernal of truth... It's 2012. I refuse to think that Minnesota is Burning.

Now I park at the Mall of America and take the light rail. I used to Park at the Mall of America and take a taxi. The Light Rail seems to be a better value and I don't get dropped off at Nicollet Mall because the driver didn't fully understand me.

At a different hotel I would have figured that out. I called the front desk and explained the problem with my room keys and they ran me up another card. When they knocked at the door... I told them I couldn't open the door because my room key was locked in here with me. They slid it under the door. In the end I don't think holiday inn does what it implies in the commercials.

lol... I tried the Holiday Inn Express for the purpose of clearer thinking. I locked my room keys in my room and I couldn't figure out why the remote wouldn't turn the channel but the bed seemed to be getting softer.

John, I wish I could write as smoothly as you can. That was well said. I also would like to thank you for this site. It provides me a chance to escape my isolated baseball passion and share it with others of my ilk. Not to mention the chance to divert my attention away from my wife(who is wonderful by the way) asking me to fix the window outside.

Today... The Twins fans are saying what a great come back by the Twins. The Angels Fans are saying Jeez... The Angels sure sucked yesterday blowing a lead like that to the Twins. On the question of effort. This doesn't prove anything but has anyone every wondered why some players seem to have their best seasons in contract years? You see and hear that all the time... It makes me wonder what is going on! But again... that doesn't prove anything... Just something to think about it on the subject of heart. Here's an individual player thought that bugs me a little. Ryan Doumit... again I'm happy he's with the club. However, if you think about his career. Decent stats for a catcher. In Fact... for a catcher... damn good batting stats. Athletic enough to at least attempt to play multiple positions. By all reports a real strong arm... A veteren who has been playing major league baseball for quite some time and has been exposed to the best coaching in the world. With that experience and a strong arm to boot... Why is he not a better defensive catcher? If he has the tools(strong arm) and opportunity(lack of superstar blocking him in Pittsburgh) and exposure to world class training. What gives here... It's just a matter of footwork behind the plate. Something that you should be able to master over the length of time he has been playing the game... Why is he not a better defensive catcher? He hits enough to be a gold mine behind the plate yet he couldn't lock down a starting job with the Pirates who have never had an elite catcher blocking his path. This throws a red flag with me. Could it be that he simply hasn't worked as hard as he should at it? I don't know... I have no way of knowing but I'm going to watch and make my own mind up before I assume. Until then... those clues are hard for me to ignore but I will try.

Don't forget to factor in the pressure... Fans like us ready to boo and throw things at the drop of a hat... Sportswriters ready to pounce at any mis-step... Facing the World's best every single day who try to make them fail. No real support besides teammates because you leave your family pretty much for 6 months of the year... and to take the pressure to the highest level... a stable of young hungry talent in lower levels pushing to take their job away from them. Coupled with a manager who will lose his job over placing support in the wrong spot and GM's with trigger fingers pushed by a different level of pressure. If you had that kind of pressure day in and day out. You would have to remove yourself from it from time to time or go insane... Sometimes it happens on the field.

lol... now that you understand... I'm hoping you can explain it to me. I'm still lost... lol... One thing I always notice about Sports Fans. They seem to always assume that the result of a game depends on the team you are cheering for. For example... "The Vikings Defense sure sucked today" Was it bad defense(it's the vikings... of course it was) but for example... Was it bad defense or did the other team just have a fantastic offensive day. They always seem to forget the other teams part of the equation. Both teams are trying to win and have to be factored in but seemingly rarely are. Did the Twins come back on Heart yesterday or did the Angels Pitching staff throw up a series of poorly timed cookies. Is it possible that the Angels pitching was bad enough yesterday that Tulane University would have come back against them. I don't know... but at this point... I choose to believe in the Twins but still question the overall heart of this team until I see more moments like yesterday. Did Mauer choke with the bases loaded because of lack of heart or did Dan Haren shut him down with great pitches? Two teams are playing... Each have their own personal human issues and luck or bad luck and skill sets and they both want to win. In the end... Someone has to step up and make a play at the right time and someone has to do it again tomorrow.

I love that quote... "Train-wreckier Right now"... I feel the exact same way gil4... I think I can drop him and pick him up again but the league is littered with Twins fans and they tend to lean toward Twins players. There is just something about him that I can't let go. No matter how lost he looks... I can't seem to shake that under 3 ERA potential that I have of him personally. Delgado could be a safer stud and he is by no means safe. That's why I'm coming to those inclined on this board.

??? Tough grading curve... Eye of the beholder... I think Terry Ryan can hold his head high in consideration of his portfolio of deals. He has lost some trades. In hindsight who hasn't. Every GM has, even the greatest Baseball GM in the world(insert name here). I myself once traded my car for an actual polar bear. I did research and a polar bear was 100,000 dollars in value at the time. My car had 30,000 miles. This was a no brainer. Then the truck shows up and drops the bear off at my house. The neighbors started complaining immediately. I had to build an enclosure because it turns out it was pretty strong and the rope and stake that worked for my dog wasn't getting it done. You would be surprised at the cost of seal meat and how much they eat and how much there was to clean up after, and worst of all, The bear didn't like to be hugged at all and those claws are real. I tried to give it a hug and it sliced me pretty good and I had to walk to the emergency room bleeding terribly because I had traded my car. That was a bad deal. We've all made em.

It is true for every team and every group of people working any job thats my point. I don't believe its a zero sum game. Baseball players are flawed just like that guy who works next to you and quickly alt-tabs back to the spread sheet when the boss walks by but even that guy... Mr. Alt-tab can do some amazing creative stuff from time to time. They are... What's that word I'm looking for... Tip of my tongue... Well... I think they are... Human. Combine this vague heart notion that i firmly believe exists. Toss In some luck and how the heart reacts to that. Then a big scoop of raw talent and mix it up.

There you go... My work here is done. If I can reach just one person... It is all worth it. Cue the 80's outfit Human League and sing along. Your only Human.

lol... I'm glad you noticed... I was debating with myself if I should underline the word. Did I put the word in enough? My other draft had the word in 74 times and I liked it but 27 times the autocorrect spelled hussies and 14 times it spelled blue man group. I changed cuz I thought it would be confusing.

Shane I don't and can't and the last thing I want to do is give anyone the impression that I can. The one thing I know for sure is this. They are human flesh and blood just like you and me. They have great jobs that most of us would have killed for. They want to keep those jobs as long as they can but they are human. Its 162 games and they are human. Losing makes it worse and winning makes it better. It's a job and they are human. Thinking the nose is constantly to the grindstone is misguided and the ability to keep your nose to the grindstone in adverse conditions and times of celebration is my definition of heart. Its my definition and it doesn't mean that I'm right because the answer will always be vague. But I'm pretty sure that they are Human just like us and therefore the human element exists in varying degrees.

So far he is looking great but can he do magic tricks? That is something Bill James can't quantify.

H2H 24 cats 12 hitting 12 pitching 12 teams 30 man roster mandatory 15 position players mandatory 9 sp 6 rp keeper total 6 used for the Brauns and not the Harpers.

It is stupid because the definition is always gonna be vague but if you think everyone of these well paid athletes are giving 100 percent... 100 percent of the time. I'm sorry they are not and the varying degrees of that is my definition of heart.

Yes... Yes he is... Jamey Carroll was Born on the Planet SWLABR(The planet name is pronounced Mike) far away in the Messier 87 galaxy which is about 53 million light years from earth or 17 miles north of Evansville. Just take the highway on your left after the spank and hollar bar. It's a long drive... My family knows people who left on the road for SWLABR back in the 60's and still haven't arrived.

It was a great comeback win. Very encourging... There will be more games like this year and they will feel good when they happen. But the heart question has not been answered.

For being such a broad ranged statement... It completely zeros in on Mr. Liriano. Scale of 1 to 10... 10 being perfect. That sentence is 14.

Not that I'm hoping he gets moved.

Teams that would take a chance on Morneau: Toronto comes to mind first. Washington comes to Mind. Rockies is another. Any team that suffers an injury.

He will have to play some 1B for his trade value to rise. If his numbers come back, stays injury free and the Twins eat some money on his contract.... AND... The Twins decide to get younger. He could fetch a decent prospect from a pennant chasing team. Remember... We cut 15 million off the payroll... If we are buyers... Not out of the question. We just may have wiggle room to actually buy. Raise a glass and drink to his health.

For those who play Fantasy Baseball. I picked up Liriano in the 28th round so we are not talking high value but I thought it was a good potential late round pick. Two games in is too early to throw in the towel but... Delgado from the Braves is sitting on Waivers. Forget any Twins frustration or Twins pride and objectively cast a vote for me to consider. As far as the format of the league. If the Pitcher sucks... The Scoring will suck... Delgado or Liriano going forward.

My Opinion... Closers are overrated and underrated at the same time. I believe that many pitchers possess the make up and ability to be closers... I dare say that there are probably better closer options then Matt Capps setting up on other squads. Yet Teams will shell out big money to acquire them. This makes them overrated. However, Watching Ron Davis do his thing and knowing that when the closer blows it. The team rarely has enough time to come back. This Makes them underrated. It's the sticking with the bad ones that drives you nuts. I hope Capps keeps getting the job done. Build up his value and then move him for prospects if a decent offer comes along and then give the job to Perkins. Hopefully Perk builds up some value and then repeat the process and move on to the next. I will probably get attacked for saying that. Either way it's a tough job. Fans almost always denegrate them.